OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – Nebraska lawmakers advanced a bill Thursday that would protect doctors who recommend medical marijuana to their patients.
In November 2024, 70% of Nebraska voters approved an initiative to legalize medical marijuana. Nearly a year and a half later, lawmakers are still discussing how to implement what is now Nebraska law.
Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha introduced LB 933, which aims to protect medical providers from prosecution for recommending medical cannabis to their patients.
“That’s really all this does. This is a protection to make doctors not afraid that they will lose their license just for the act of recommending,” Cavanaugh said.
Cavanaugh said his bill does not give doctors blanket immunity, and it could lead to doctors in the state finally recommending treatment that many Nebraskans need.
“The ballot initiative passed a year and a half ago. This is the law in the state of Nebraska. We have heard not a single doctor has made a recommendation to date. The only folks who have medical cannabis recommendations have gone to out-of-state doctors,” Cavanaugh said.
Cavanaugh warned that if the state does not make medical marijuana work, voters could push for legalizing the recreational use of the drug.
There was pushback against Cavanaugh’s bill, including from some who believed the measure did not go far enough. Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha wanted to restrict recommendations to only Nebraska doctors.
“We just don’t want people going to fly-by-night, going out of the state saying, ‘We don’t know who this doctor is, but hey, they have a license somewhere else.’ So I would encourage more stronger restrictions,” Kauth said.
LB 933 passed and will advance, guaranteeing that the discussion on medical marijuana in Nebraska will continue.
Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln said Nebraska is lagging behind other states.
“This isn’t a revolutionary concept. We’ve had an opportunity to learn a lot from our sister states that have moved more quickly in this regard on these issues. The people are way out in front of the legislature in Nebraska on this, and despite these decisive votes two years ago, we’re still really limping along in assuring access to medical cannabis in this state,” Conrad said.
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